Improving Crop Yield by Smart Irrigation System based
on IoT
Rahul Y. Pawar*, Hafya Ullah, Vinayak Nagri
D.Y. Patil College of Engineering, Akurdi, Pune, Maharashtra-411035
ABSTRACT:
The agriculture system is plagued with issues
surrounding wastage of water as well as extra
usage of water than required. These issues
have often led to damage to crops further
leading to humongous losses to the farmers.
Apart from insufficient or excessive water
distribution, crop health has been a matter of
great concern. As crops are grown, it is not
known for sure whether the conditions are
adequate for healthy yield. With the advent
and growth of technologies in recent years,
Internet of Things has been of great support to
varying fields in the market and the entire
world. This paper deals with how IoT (Internet
of Things) can help and alleviate the problems
in Agricultural system to ensure less wastage
of resources, healthier yield and consequently
extraction of as many profits as possible. The
technology of IoT has been put to use with the
use of different types of hardware and that
enable and embed certain features into the
Agricultural procedure which are not possible
in the normal procedure.
For this setup, we have made use of Arduino
kit along with four major sensors: Moisture
Sensor, Temperature Sensor, pH Sensor and
Nitrogen Phosphorus Potassium (NPK)
Sensor.
I. INTRODUCTION:
Whenever we talk about India, horticulture
turns out to play a major role in the country’s
economic
backbone.
Horticulture,
the
cultivation of plants, serves as an earning
means for around 70% of India’s population of
over 1.3 Billion people. The objective of this
paper is to help ease the Agricultural process
throughout the country and at the same time,
ensuring less wastage water resources. This
project will help farmers as well as the general
public in providing them with a better
Agricultural objective procedure.
This paper proposes such a programmed
irrigation system which will lead to reduced
manual labour, better optimized water usage as
well as increased productivity of crops. We
make use of sensors and the IoT technology to
form a framework that will help the farmer to
automatically provide water to a plant as
needed along with maintaining proper pH
levels and proper level of nutrients ensuring
healthy yield.
Moisture Sensors are buried in soil to notify
the system with information on moisture level
present in soil of a crop. These levels are
checked with a simple program and predefined
threshold values. If moisture level is less than
the required amount of water, water is
distributed over the crops with the help of a
motor. As soon as the crops attain its required
moisture level, the motor shuts down, hence
ensuring there’s no wastage of water.
Similarly, Temperature Sensor is used to
continually check the current temperature of
soil. The findings are then compared with
threshold values stored in the system and if
temperature exceeds the required temperature
level, just adequate amount of water is
sprinkled over the crops to bring the
temperature down.
pH Sensor is used to ensure that the crops are
in proper pH conditions to maintain the health
of the crops and ascertain a healthy yield. pH
sensor is used to measure the pH values of the
soil. If the pH value is reported as below a
certain range under 7, the soil is considered
acidic. The values are compared with
threshold values for crop and as required, the
adequate amount of alkaline is sprinkled over
the crop to balance out the acidic part.
However, if value is reported above a certain
range over 7, soil is considered alkaline and is
treated with an acidic solution of MonoAmmonium Phosphate [(NH4)H2PO4].
NPK Sensor comes into the picture as we need
to measure the contents of essential nutrients
Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Potassium in the
soil and consequently maintain the adequate
amount of these nutrients. NPK Sensor is
implemented with the help of an optical
transducer which ascertains on how much of
these nutrients are required in the soil to make
it fertile enough. Optical Transducer is
implemented as a detection sensor which uses
three LEDs (Blue, Yellow and Red) for light
sources and a photodiode for light detection.
II. REVIEW OF LITERATURE:
There has been good amount of research work
on the topic of automating agricultural
practices. Use of different microprocessors
and different algorithms has taken place in the
past to achieve the same goals. Scientists have
tried out different approaches to tackle
automated water sprinkling or water system
framework. An article, published in 2014,
takes into account how water sprinkling can be
automated in order to use water cautiously and
consequently save water. It discusses on
important aspects of water conservation
including equal and strictly sufficient
distribution of water, goes in depth on
discussing the technological needs of
automatic water distribution system followed
by methods of achieving it, and it’s followed
by different methods and are discussed to
achieve increased performance in the agenda
of automatic water supply. [1] pH
Measurement has been tackled using
technologies like an ion-sensitive field effect
transistor (ISFET) based sensor, along with
EC sensor and a p-n diode temperature sensor.
Such a framework focuses on particularly
improving the productivity of crops and
obtaining a stable production of high quality
fruits and vegetables. Making use of Electrical
Conductivity, salt substance concentration of
soil is calculated which consequently helps in
monitoring the health conditions of plants by
monitoring and dealing with nutrients in the
plants in a quantitative manner.[2] The process
of drip irrigation has been studied and
implemented combining IoT technologies with
Image Sensing technologies. A database of
predefined soil moisture values is used with
moisture sensor and an Android app to form
an interface with the farmer. Apart from the
moisture sensor, a camera is used to click
pictures of the leaves of plants. These pictures
are further studied and analyzed using image
processing algorithms. The results are
compared with the results of healthy plant
leaves already available in a database, which
helps in identifying whether the plant or a part
of plant is diseased or not. [3] Another
framework has been implemented which
involves Arduino UNO for the first time to
carry out automated irrigation. Apart from the
Arduino UNO embedded system, a moisture
sensor with WiFi module are used. All of these
are used together in a well formed network to
carry out a procedure which tackles the
distribution of water over crops by making it
automatic. [4] To ensure healthy yield of
crops, it is important to check and maintain
presence of adequate amount of Nitrogen,
Phosphorus and Potassium nutrients. To do
this, an NPK sensor is built with the help of an
Optical Transducer. Optical Transducer
involves an implementation as a detection
sensor using three LEDs as light source and a
photodiode for light detection. An Arduino
microcontroller is involved for data acquisition
and analog to digital data conversion. [5]
III. PROPOSED SYSTEM:
Hardware Used:
A. Arduino
Arduino is basically an electronic platform
that’s built on easy to use and easily available
hardware. The software is made open source
by the creators. [6] We make use of Arduino
Nano which is the one of the lower cost
versions of Arduino. It is an embedded system.
The various pins available on Arduino are
used to read and write values on to the system.
We make use of Arduino as it is:



More affordable
Cross Platform (Windows, Mac OS,
Linux)
Open Source
Extensible hardware and software
B. Soil Moisture Sensor
Soil Moisture Sensor, also referred to as SMS,
measures soil dampness content dynamically
in a repetitive cycle and impedes the cycle if
the dampness or moisture is over a
characteristically set threshold value.
Working: SMS work on the concept of
Dielectric Permittivity. Dielectric Permittivity
is basically the amount of electricity that can
be passed through soil. It acts as a function of
water content present in the soil.
Threshold value of a particular crop is decided
after following these steps:
 The soil moisture sensor is buried in
the soil of the crop and water has to be
applied to the soil. It is recommended
that at least one inch of standing water
is applied.
 Then, the soil is just left untouched
along with the SMS for duration of
twenty four hours. It is to be noted that
if it rains within this period, the entire
process has to be started over.
 After the twenty four hour duration is
up, the value of soil moisture is read.
This value is set as the threshold value
for that crop.
Soil Moisture Sensors follow a basic working
methodology. It measures the soil dampness or
moisture value in short periods and if the value
exceeds the threshold value, the relay is
switched on which in turn switches on the
motor of the Water tank. Water is distributed
over the crops and as soon as the moisture
value returned by the sensor reaches the
threshold value, the relay is switched off and
the water motor is switched off.
C. Temperature Sensor
Temperature Sensors are used to ensure that
the overall temperature of soil of a crop stays
under a particular threshold temperature,
crossing which might result in unhealthy yield.
Again, a database of threshold temperature
values for required crops is maintained and the
temperature sensor is deployed.
It is programmed such that as soon as the
temperature of soil crosses the threshold
temperature, with the help of a relay device,
the water sprinklers are turned on. Adequate
water is sprinkled and this in turn, cools down
the temperature and brings it to the appropriate
soil temperature required for healthy yield.
D. pH Sensor
pH Sensor is the most important sensor
deployed that deals with the biological health
of a crop. It is dipped into the soil of a crop
and it measures the pH value of the soil.
 If the value is found to be between 7.9
to 9.4, the soil is deemed on the
alkaline side, and to balance it out,
with the help of a relay, the motor of
the tank of acidic solution of MonoAmmonium Phosphate [(NH4)H2PO4]
is turned on. Hence, the adequate
amount of this acidic solution is
sprayed until the pH Sensor returns an
appropriate pH value.
 On the contrary, if the value is found
to be between 5.0 and 6.0, the soil is
deemed on the acidic side, and
similarly, to balance it, a relay is used
to switch on the motor attached to the
tank of alkaline Potassium Nitrate
(KNO3).
E. NPK Sensor
Nitrogen Phosphorus Potassium (NPK) Sensor
is essential to measure and maintain the
required nutrients of the soil which in turn
helps in healthy yield of crops. NPK Sensor is
implemented with the help of an Optical
Transducer which acts as a light detection
sensor. To carry out light detection, it is
necessary to have a light source and a light
detector. In this NPK Sensor, 3 LEDs (of
colours Blue, Yellow and Red) are used as
light sources and BH 1750 digital light sensor
is used for light detection. The lights are used
as such because the blue light is absorbed by
Nitrogen nutrients in the soil, the yellow light
is absorbed by Phosphorus nutrients in the soil
and the red light is absorbed by Potassium
nutrients in the soil.
The measure of these nutrients is calculated on
basis of wavelength difference. The
wavelength at which each light is transmitted
is noted. Then, the received wavelength of
each light (after a specific amount being
absorbed by the particular nutrient) is noted.
This wavelength difference gives us a clear
idea of the amount of nutrients present in the
soil. The NPK Sensor is held over the soil to
carry out this measurement. It works in the
following steps:
•The LEDs continuously emit the required
lights towards the soil; some amount of each
light is absorbed by the particular nutrient.
Using transmitted and received wavelength
values, the required wavelength difference is
calculated.
•For a healthy yield, the wavelength difference
for blue light (Nitrogen) should be 3.5 units,
for yellow light (Phosphorus), it should be
2.46 units and for red light (Potassium), the
difference should be 1.6 units.
•The acquired values are compared to the
required values and if found lacking, with the
help of a relay, the motor is switched on and
an NPK solution is distributed over the crops
until the nutrients in soil reach the adequate
amount
required.
F. LED Display
The Arduino Nano board is also connected to
a small LED display. It is used to simply
display all the values that are acquired from
the deployed sensors. In case of pH Sensor,
the display is also used to show in text,
whether the soil is Acidic or Alkaline
alongside the actual pH values.
Mathematical Model:
A. Soil Moisture Sensor
•
Start
•
Continuously acquire sensor data until
threshold value is reached
•
A/D conversion of the sensed data on
the Arduino Board
•
If the data is above the threshold
Send a notification to the Smart
Irrigation Application
a. Send a control signal to the server
b. Control signal is then sent to the
IoT gateway
c. The IoT gateway triggers the relay
and the water pump is turned ON
Else
d. Send a control signal to the server
e. Control signal is then sent to the IoT
gateway
f. The IoT gateway triggers the relay
and the water pump is turned OFF
Endif
Else
•Continue checking for the threshold condition
Endif
End
B. pH Sensor
•
Start
•
Continuously acquire sensor data
through pH Sensor
•
A/D conversion of the sensed data on
the Arduino Board
•
If pH value is between 6.6 to 7.3
Display: “Soil Neutral”
•
else If (pH value is between 6.1 to 6.5)
Display: “Slightly Acidic”
•
else If (pH value is between 5.0 to 6.0)
Display: “Moderately Acidic”
relay1.motor 1 = “ON”
•
else If (pH value is between 7.4 to 7.8)
Display: “Slightly Alkaline”
•
else If (pH value is between 7.9 to 9.4)
Display: “Moderately Alkaline”
relay2.motor2 = “ON”
•
else
Display “Soil Not Suitable”;
•
Default for relay 1: off
relay 2: off
•
End
C. NPK Sensor
• Nx – Nitrogen Content Unit
Px – Phosphorus Content Unit
Kx – Potassium Content Unit
• Tn – transmitted wavelength of blue LED
Tp – transmitted wavelength of yellow LED
Tk – transmitted wavelength of red LED
• Rn – received wavelength of blue LED
Rp – received wavelength of yellow LED
Rx – received wavelength of red LED
• Nx = Tn – Rn
Px = Tp – Rp
Kx = Tk – Rk
• If (Nx<3.5 && Px<2.45 && K<1.6)
print: “Soil is Nutrient Deficient”
relay3.motor3 = “ON”
else
print: “Soil has sufficient nutrients”
End
Architecture Diagram:
Figure 1: Architecture of proposed System
IV. CONCLUSION:
As per this system, the use of sensors, Arduino
under the IoT technology ensures that the crop
yield of a farmer is improved, healthier as well
as also ensures conservation of our most vital
natural resource, Water. Designed system can
irrigate field with lesser amount of water. In
addition to that, the biological health of the
crop is taken great care of with the help of pH
Sensor and NPK Sensor. With the help of pH
Sensor, accompanied with other necessary
hardware, the pH levels of the crops are
always kept in control and in a suitable range.
Similarly, with the help of NPK Sensor, the
amounts of Nitrogen, Phosphorus and
Potassium in the soil are well regulated and
maintained. Overall, it results into a
completely better process with the focus on
using just the right amount of resources and
achieving the healthiest possible yield.
REFERENCES:
[1] N.B. Bhawarkar, D.P. Pande, R.S. Sonone,
Mohd. Aaquib , P.A. Pandit, and P. D. Patil,
“Literature Review for Automated Water
Supply with Monitoring the Performance
System”, International Journal of Current
Engineering and Technology, Vol. 4, No. 5,
Oct 2014.
[2] Ryosuke Izumi, Akihito Ono, Hiroki
Ishizuka, Kyohei Terao, Hidekuni Takao,
Tsuyoshi Kobayashi, Ikuo Kataoka, Fusao
Shimokawa, “Biological information (pH/EC)
sensor device for quantitatively monitoring
plant health conditions”, IEEE, 2017
[3] http://igin.com/article-218-drip-irrigationawater-conserving-solution.html
[4] Dweepayan Mishra, Arzeena Khan, Rajeev
Tiwari, Shuchi Upadhay, “Automated
Irrigation System – IoT Based Approach”,
IEEE 2018
[5] Marianah Masrie, Mohamad Syamim
Aizuddin
Rosman, Rosidah
Sam, Zuriati
Janin, “Detection of nitrogen, phosphorus, and
potassium (NPK) nutrients of soil using
optical transducer”, IEEE 2017
[6]
https://www.arduino.cc/en/Guide/Introduction
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